Kearney
Summary
Data-center siting is no longer just a search for land and power. It is becoming a more complex, multidimensional investment decision: matching the requirements of a workload to the constraints and advantages of a location.
Heat reuse is most valuable where there is a credible local off-taker, such as district heating, industrial users, greenhouses, or public buildings. A rural site with abundant power may have little practical heat-reuse potential. A denser location may face more permitting scrutiny, but it may also have more ways to turn waste heat into a local benefit.
Meta’s Odense data center offers a practical example. Its heat-recovery system was designed to recover 100,000 MWh annually, enough to heat about 6,900 homes through the local district-heating network. The underwriting lesson is not to assume meaningful heat revenue; it is to confirm the off-taker, required temperature lift, infrastructure ownership, seasonality, and economics before assigning value to heat reuse.
Continue Reading
#News#DistrictHeating